In September 2001, when the student Salman Jarbar established the first Iranian weblog, no one imagined that blogging would become a social phenomenon in Iran. But over the past seven years blogs have come to fulfil the role of liberal newspapers, civil society organisations and even private gatherings. In 2004 unofficial estimates placed Persian as the fourth most common language in the blogosphere.
When I started blogging I had already been a journalist for 12 years. The criteria for writing for daily newspapers in Iran are very strict: the laws governing our publications, along with our social, cultural and traditional beliefs, impose lines which cannot be crossed without consequences. Political conditions promote self-censorship as well as official censorship.
At first, journalists were extremely guarded about what they wrote, even online. But that soon changed. As official pressure on the print media increased, daily papers were threatened with closure, and the fear of arrest and imprisonment spread among journalists and activists. Blogs have become our major source of news and information.
As elections approach, bloggers promote or oppose participation, criticise candidates, and provide uncensored analysis, reports, articles and satire. Their impact has been so great that many politicians have taken up blogging themselves. In 2003, Seyyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a popular reformist cleric and vice-president to President Khatami, became the first political blogger when he launched www.webneveshteha.com, one of the most visited Iranian blogs. In 2006, President Ahmadinejad followed suit with his own blog, www.ahmadinejad.ir, which is translated into English, French and Arabic.
The blogosphere breaks taboos that the Iranian media cannot. The subject of women is one of the most important: now young women have started to write freely on the internet about themselves: their bodies, their sexual relationships, their hopes and wishes, and their criticisms of the patriarchal norms of Iranian society.
Taboos concerning human rights have also been broken. I have used my blog to openly discuss issues such as stoning and the execution of women and minors, areas rarely covered by even the most daring of reformist publications. But these posts have put me in danger. On 12 June 2006, I met other women’s rights activists in one of the main squares in Tehran to protest against legal discrimination against women. The protest was arranged online, because no print publication or other official media outlet was willing to publicise it. The demonstration ended in the arrest of more than 70 people and five activists were charged with organising it.
On the day of their court hearing, several of us went to the revolutionary courts in support of the five women on trial. But our peaceful presence in front of the courthouse was not tolerated and we were violently attacked by police, arrested and taken to prison. Along with 32 other activists, I spent four days in prison. We were released on 8 March 2007, International Women’s Day, but were charged with actions against national security. Some of us received prison sentences.
On the day that I was interrogated in prison, sitting blindfolded across from my interrogator, I could still see the stacks of papers on his desk that comprised the case against me. Some of the papers were printed entries from my blog.
But women activists still band together on collective blogs such as the One Million Signatures Campaign (www. change4equality.net/english), which seeks to secure equal rights in marriage and inheritance, an end to polygamy, and stricter punishments for honour killings and other forms of violence. In August a coalition of activists opposing the Family Protection Bill – which advocates limits to women’s rights such as allowing men to take a second wife without the consent of the first – took shape. Their only means of contact was an internet mailing list.
Online crackdown
The state’s backlash against the virtual community started in 2003. Sites and blogs that clashed with official state policies were blocked, but censorship then expanded to cover blogs with the term “woman” or “gender” in the title. Even professional medical sites that provided information on reproductive health were affected. The crackdown continued, and in February 2005 several bloggers were arrested, including Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad, both of whom had criticised government policies online. The “Case of the Bloggers” attracted widespread international criticism.
Since Ahmadinejad’s election in 2005, the pressure on journalists and campaigners has increased. The new government viewed civil society as a means through which the enemy worked to influence Iranian society. The ministry of the interior approved regulations imposing controls on internet publications, although, because of technical difficulties, they have yet to be implemented. And in July the government began to consider a bill against “online crimes”. Parliament is yet to vote on the bill, but if it is approved, bloggers and webmasters found guilty of “promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy” may find themselves facing the death sentence.
Asieh Amini is a journalist and civil rights activist who blogs (in Farsi) at: https://www.varesh.blogfa.com
A president writes…
“Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – The Official Blog, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran”
- I have been thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucracy for some time now.
21 November 2006 - The behavior of US government concerning the people of other nations is very supercilious and slighting.
28 November 2006 - Since my last post on the blog, a few months have passed. But this doesn’t mean that I have not been keeping my promise of spending 15 minutes per week on it. As a matter of fact, I have spent more than the allocated time on the blog. The magnitude of the reception and acclamation from the viewers was beyond expectations. I would like to use this opportunity and ask those of you who intend to send me messages through blog, to make it as brief as you can. Thank you.
18 November 2007 - The happiness of an orphan who has achieved his right is preferable to the satisfaction of oppressive and voracious politicians. The political system of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on this viewpoint.
1 December 2007
Comments
- Why would anybody want to listen to you. youre surpressive
Gary Adamson, UK - I find you very intelligent and smart
Isis Wong, China - Cool . . . are these all real comments from real people? Or planted? Anyway, your blogs are somewhat formal sounding. Why not loosen up the language a little for the American readers? Also what kind of music do you like? What is your favorite color?
D DuBois, US - Why dont you answers questions regarding the execution of gay people in Iran straightly?
J Shore, US - Mr President – it will be great if you can tell the person whos maintaining this website not to use ASPx (Windows Technologies = American dictators) There are better Open Source projects
Hasan Akyol, UK
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